March 4, 2007

Life Coaching around the Quilting Circle

Now I you may think that I'm going through a meaning-of-life phase because I am reading all these books and attending courses. More like building my management toolkit. A course I took recently was an intro to life coaching. So many of my friends are at the same point in their lives - trying to figure out the next step. Some have kids, others are thinking about it and a few are figuring out how to balance their life/work with their partners'. Here are the basic steps to do-it-yourself life coaching. It is nice to work with a professional coach since they can guide you along and hold you accountable to your own goals. Yet anyone can do it on their own and be successful.

Coaching methodology
Set your goal - and it should be pretty clearly defined such as, “pursuing a creative endeavour in my spare time that allows me to express myself in ways that I can’t do at work.” It should be a goal that makes you smile, not one that makes you sweat with anxiety or feel so comfortable that you are still in your safety zone.

Define success - How will you know you’ve reached the goal when you get there? What will success look like? How will it feel? Can it be quantified and/or qualified? What will success allow you to do that you aren’t doing now?

Current situation - Where are you currently in relation to the goal? (Often called a GAP analysis, the gap between the goal and the current situation.)Are there any things in your life that you may already be doing that are moving you towards that goal – things that you didn’t recognise before?

What are specific actions you can take to get you towards your goal? Clearly identify them. How will you pursue them? What is a specific date/time that you will pursue each one? Once you think of a list add five more actions just to give yourself a good stretch in your thinking.

Hay, this looks a lot like the E-Myth methodology. Yes, just a different framing. I keep thinking that we should have support circles, some how over the web, for women who are asking these questions. Maybe thats what quilting circles use to be.